Vaccines Going Viral: Peripheral Public Discussion of Scientifically Justified Policies

Rhetoric Review Jan 2020

Vaccines Going Viral: Peripheral Public Discussion of Scientifically Justified Policies

Devon Moriarty Twitter (United States)

Abstract

This article examines Reddit-users’ (“redditors”) responses to a story concerning proposed legislation that would require parents considering not vaccinating their children to participate in a public-health delivered education session on the science of immunization. In theorizing Reddit as a “peripheral public” venue and attending to its use of algorithms to sort content and commentary, this case study uses a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach to explore the rhetorical strategies employed by redditors as they discuss the proposed legislation and the scientific controversy behind it—suggesting new strategies for investigating participatory media, as well as insights for key stakeholders in the vaccine controversy.

Journal: Rhetoric Review
Published: 2020-01-02
DOI: 10.1080/07350198.2019.1690376
Open Access: Closed
Topics: social media

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Cites in this index (3)

Graham et al. (2019)

There’s No Such Thing as a Scientific Controversy

Technical Communication Quarterly
Pflugfelder (2017)

Reddit’s “Explain Like I’m Five”: Technical Descriptions in the Wild

Technical Communication Quarterly
Crick et al. (2010)

The Conduit Between Lifeworld and System: Habermas and the Rhetoric of Public S…

Rhetoric Society Quarterly

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